News

Spirits were high on the weekend of 15-16 May as three spheres of College life came together. The Annual College Art Show this year was held in conjunction with the Rector’s Cocktail Party for parents, which in turn is customarily held to coincide with the final round of the HTC inter-college football.

Student President, Ruby Yates, was involved in all three since she helped to curate and judge the Art Show entries, played in the Aquinas women’s football team, and was host to her parents for the weekend.

‘It was a huge couple of days for Aquinas,’ said Ruby. ‘And a great success.’

Sunday saw the men’s football trophy return to Aquinas, as the Aquinas XVIII built on the two strong wins against Lincoln and St Ann’s the previous week, to kick the College to convincing victories also against Flinders and St Mark’s.

Co-coach of the Aquinas team, Jack Dickeson, said it was a wonderful feeling to take out this year’s competition.

‘We were quietly confident that we had a quite strong team this year, even though a few of boys were carrying injuries,’ he said. ‘On the field, it just came together for us and each game ended up with a strong win.’

On Saturday evening, a record number of parents, students and staff gathered in the pleasant ambience of Lower Gleeson for this year’s Rector’s Cocktail Party. They were surrounded by the works entered into the Art Show, which last year was a student-only affair due to COVID.

The talents of both staff and students were on show once again, attracting many admiring comments. Special guests for the evening were the Pike family, with Lauren presenting the major prize named after her late sister and much-loved Aquinian, Rosie.

The Rosie Pike Award for Artistry went to Marni Clark, who backed up the next day for the women’s footy team. The two People’s Choice Awards went to Jesse Martin, who also slipped on the footy boots on Sunday, and Airlie Walters.